This invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus, and more particularly to a control unit relating power characteristics of a battery to control the operating of the electronic apparatus.
A video camera apparatus is known that incorporates a body and a battery pack which is detachable with respect to the body. The battery pack incorporates a battery cell constituted by a secondary battery, such as a lithium-ion battery, a NiCd battery or a nickel-hydrogen battery. A major portion of the video camera apparatuses each incorporating a battery pack of the foregoing type is able to also use an AC/DC power source. The video camera apparatus is arranged such that the load control conditions in a case where the battery pack is used and those in a case where the AC/DC power source is used are made to be different. When the battery pack is used as the power source, an allowable load electric power is usually limited. Therefore, use of the video camera apparatus in a state where a large load electric power is exerted is inhibited.
An attempt has been made to enlarge the capacity of the battery pack. A portion of the battery packs has a structure wherein the number of battery cells, that incorporate output terminals formed into the same shape, arranged to output the same voltage and connected in parallel, is increased to increase the allowable load electric power. A portion of the video camera apparatus is arranged to permit loading of a variety of battery packs having different allowable load electric power into the body of the video camera apparatus.
The video camera apparatus, structured such that plural types of the battery packs having different allowable load electric power are loaded into the body of the video camera is arranged such that the load control conditions are made to be different between a case where the battery pack is used and the case where the AC/DC power source is used. Any control of the load which is exerted on the power source has not been applied between battery packs having different allowable load electric power.
When an excessively large number of functions of the video camera apparatus are provided by the video camera apparatus when a battery pack having a small allowable load electric power has been loaded into the body of the video camera apparatus, an excess current flows in the battery pack. As a result, the load is increased excessively. Therefore, when a video camera apparatus of the foregoing is designed, adaptation to the battery pack having the smallest allowable load electric power among the battery packs which can be loaded into the body of the video camera apparatus is required. Therefore, the design of the video camera apparatus has been limited. In addition, in a case where a battery pack having allowable load electric power is loaded, the function of the video camera is undesirably limited.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic apparatus arranged to identify the electric power characteristics of a battery loaded into the body of the apparatus to permit functions corresponding to the battery to be performed.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable electronic apparatus comprising: a secondary battery cell or a battery; control means having electric characteristic information about the secondary battery or the battery stored therein; loading means into which a plurality of types of batteries having substantially the same output voltage and shape of output terminals are loaded; communication means for receiving electric power characteristic information obtained from the battery; control means incorporating a storage portion in which a plurality of operation information items corresponding to electric power characteristic information are stored and arranged to read operation information supplied from the storage portion in accordance with electric power characteristic information supplied from the control means for the battery pack so as to control the operation of the apparatus body. That is, the portable electronic apparatus permits a plurality of batteries having different electric power characteristics to be loaded. Since the control means for the battery reads electric power characteristic information, the type of the loaded battery can be identified and the operation of the body of the apparatus is thus limited.
The control means obtains internal connection information of the secondary battery cell or the battery included in the battery in accordance with electric power characteristic information so as to control the operation of the body of the apparatus in accordance with internal connection information.
The control means identifies the number of secondary battery cells or batteries included in the battery and connected in parallel in accordance with electric power characteristic information to control the functions of the body of the apparatus in accordance with a result of identification.